After two years of planning, there’s finally a date. Well, okay, a month: May. That’s when the Salt Lake Tribune, Utah’s largest newspaper, will drop its paywall.
“Starting in May, all newly published stories on sltrib.com and in the app will be free to read — no subscription required,” wrote CEO and executive editor Lauren Gustus in a note to subscribers.
We’ve been telling you about this shift for a while now — this Sarah story from September, this Sophie story from October, and this Hanaa’ story from November. The Tribune is in a unique position among American newspapers, having converted to nonprofit status in 2019. In the years since, it’s achieved financial stability and had the space to think about some foundational questions: What should a nonprofit newspaper look like? What does it owe to a community that a for-profit might not?
One answer: It wouldn’t limit access to quality local news to people willing or able to pay. “We believe trusted, independent journalism is a right — not a luxury,” Gustus writes. “And at a time when misinformation spreads faster than ever, expanding access isn’t just important — it’s necessary.”
Here’s how it will work: When the switch is pulled in May, current digital subscribers will be converted to monthly donors at the same level. (The base rate for a digital subscription is currently $10/month.) The paper says it’ll make it easy for current subscribers to opt out, but I’m guessing most people will keep paying — hey, now it’ll be tax-deductible.
Those who transition to regular donors will get to keep a few exclusive benefits: the ability to comment on stories and the e-edition (still a surprisingly powerful draw for many iPad-wielding ex-print subscribers). They’ll also have exclusive access to older stories; it’s only newly published stories from May on that will be free to all.
How will they pull it off? In 2025, the Tribune made about $2.6 million in digital subscription revenue — about 20% of total revenue. That’s about to go to $0. The goal is to make that up with additional donations, which will obviously depend on how many current subscribers will be happy to continue being charged for a (mostly) free product. A limited test the paper ran found that 87% of subscribers stuck around as donors after being told they’d be getting the news for free. (The Tribune received a $1 million pledge from a local couple for the transition, with a 1.5× match that has been met.)
As a nonprofit, The Salt Lake Tribune is in a meaningfully different position than most American newspapers. But I think there’s a potential lesson for for-profit papers, too. At this late stage in the decline of the newspaper business model, a lot of digital subscribers are paying for civic reasons at least as much as practical ones. Salt Lake City’s metro area, defined broadly, has about 2.7 million people. As of last fall, the Tribune had 32,166 digital subscribers and 7,716 print subscribers — only about 1.5% of the market. It’s hard to build a “mass” media company on those numbers, but they can support a civic institution. Patronage isn’t just for Patreon.
Map of Salt Lake City’s street grid via Adobe Stock.
